Railroad-cab



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SCHNEIDER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-CAR COUPLING.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 19,049, dated January 5, 1858-.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SCHNEIDER, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin RailroadeCar-Coupling Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, exact, and clear description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of referencemarked thereon.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and operation ofrailroad car coupling apparatus, wherebytlie coupling and uncoupling isperformed automatically is such a manner that accidents deriving eitherfrom the exposure of the attendant in coupling or from the inability touncouple when the locomotive or tender are running oii1 the track, areetfectually obviated, and to enable others skilled in the art to makeand use my invention I will proceed to degive the coupling ring easyaccess to and guide it into the aperture to act against the tumbler Y),(Fig. 6.)

The tumbler a detail of which is shown in Fig. G is a plate of such acurvilinear shape that its front forms a cam, protruding and advancingbelow the level of t-he funnel shaped aperture of the headpiece, so thatwhen the coupling ring is forced in and through said aperture, it willact against the cam and raise it by causing it to rotate upon the pin 79which passes through an orifice, as center. This tumbler is furnishedwith 2 studs projecting from the sides, the first m passes through aslot made in the side plate of the box where a spring g acts against itfor the purpose of keeping the cam in front of the aperture. This isdone by exerting a gentle upward pressure against the tail of thetumbler. The second y is on the opposite side of the plate and isdesigned to enter a hole .e in the lever c. The latter is secured in thebox by means of a pin passing through an orifice 7^I in the rear. Thislever is then liable of a swinging motion, In being the center ofrotation. Its construction and shape is of a peculiar character. It ismade in 3 different thicknesses, the front part be ing about one thirdof the whole width of the box, is armed with a stud which operates thebolt in the manner as hereinafter described. The central part has athickness equal to two thirds of the width of the box and has an orificeinto which the pin y of the tumbler b in inserted ;--tlie 3d and rearportion of the lever occupies the whole width of the box from side toside and is held in the box as above set forth'. This lever actuates theoperation of the bolt C, which consists of a hook in the form of alcircle, of which the pivot m is the center. This hook moves in acircular guide, the path of which crosses the orifice of the headpiece.In the hind part of the bolt a circular notch is wrought out into whichthe stud o of the lever c is set.

The description of the .apparatus is completed by that of the trigger a.This trigger consists of a lever jointed to the box at or near itscenter, one end bearing against and in a groove ofthe lever c while itsother end has a set screw which is adjusted to rest on the headpiece ofthe coupling bar which is attached to the opposite car.

The operation of the apparatus will now be readily understood. When 2cars are to be coupled by means of the above described contrivance, thecoupling ring is first secured onto one of them. The gradual approach ofthe cars will force the link into the aperture of the funnel shapedheadpiece, which guides the link into the orifice where it is to belocked. There it will act against the tumbler and by raising the cam,cause it to rotate upon the pivot 72. The rear or tail of the tumblerbeing then depressed, will carry along in its downward motion the leverc to which it is secured by means of the pin a. This lever on the otherhand will actuate the bolt to rise as the stud 0 engages in the notch nof the bolt C, which thus clears the passage of the link into therecess. As soon as the link passes the cam, the action exerted by thiscam ceases and the bolt drops in its former position whereby it locksthe link in a permanent manner.

When one of the cars connected by this apparatus runs oi3 the track, itis evident, that theremust be a change of level of this car in relationto the other on the road. This change of level will cause a pressureupon the set screw of the trigger, which will then operate in a similarmanner upon the lever as a similar action will be produced,

uncoupling is effected automatically by lifting the bolt for the passageof the link, either by the direct action of the link against the tumbleror by the downward pressure upon the trigger in and by the act of one ofthe cars running off the track respectively for the purposes specified.

JOHN SCHNEIDER. Attest:

CHS. Gr. E. DUssINE, CHARLES BEST.

